Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, Taipei says, in rebuff to China

This photo taken on Oct 20, 2020 shows an aerial view of anti-landing spikes and retired tanks placed along the coast of Taiwan's Kinmen islands, which lie just 3.2km from the mainland China coast (in background) in the Taiwan Strait. (AFP)

TAIPEI: The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.

The narrow strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.